Type; Monotheist, People of the Book (a general term for those religions that share the so-called Old Testament)

Description: Catholicism is a ‘reformation’ of the Orthodox form of Christianity around 460 years ago. It introduced the concept of a Supreme Bishop (the Pope) and a celibate clergy. Although the use of images of Saints and relics continued, there was a de-emphasis on the use and veneration of icons. Pilgrimage to sacred sites associated with different Saints is very common and will usually be rewarded with a remission of sins or be used as a part of penance in Confession. There is even a (very neglected) shrine to Saint Thomas in Haven.

Although there are female priests, they are very rare and are entirely members of the Order of St Ursula and are rarely seen outside their cloistered areas. Most holy females are nuns. This is a very respectable and oft made career choice for widows and retired professionals and (given sufficient donation) almost any past can be overlooked. There are many Orders of nuns and monks to be found, some in isolated communities and others attached to major Churches and Cathedrals. Some only have a hand of members.

The main language of the area that moved to this form of Christianity was Latin, so this became the Church language. The clothing of priests also became more like the secular dress of the area. Nuns will usually be in black robes unless they are doing heavy manual work, in which case they will be dressed as anyone else (and will always wear a wimple).

Religious homogeneity is maintained in Freehold by the Society for the Inquisition into the Faith (an arm of the Dominican Order), who use physical torture rather than magic to get their answers. They will burn heretics. This includes all captive Wiccans who are found practicing their faith or Orthodox priests. Practicing Muslims will often have problems (being almost always taken as heretics) as will open Reformed Church (Brothers). Dwarves are tolerated in their religion (possibly due to them not being fully human). The Catholic Church is very intolerant of sexual deviance from a strict hetero-normative pattern. Divorce is rarely allowed and a wife is subject to her husband (at least in theory).

Priests are earth-based in their miracles and the birth sign of the priest has no impact. Catholic priests influence and affect undead alone. They have no effect on lycanthropes or demons except through the use of miracle prayers. There are three Holy Orders of Knights, the Order of St Ursula (both male and female members), the Order of St Peter (male only) and the Order of St Michael (male only). Some of these are also priests, but not all, although they all count as religious. Catholic priests, although they may go into combat, have a peculiarity, unique to them, that they cannot use edged weapons against humanoids. This includes arrows and cross-bow bolts. This is due to a feeling that priests should not shed blood.

Monks are called Brother, Nuns are Sister, priests are Deacon and Father (or in the case of an Ursuline, Mother). Higher ranks are called Monsignor, Bishop, Archbishop and Pope. The current Pope (as at the start of Intimations of Evil) is Leo II.

A Catholic will make the sign of the cross with the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand held straight. They will touch the forehead (while saying ‘In nomine Patris’), the lower chest (‘et Fili’), then left shoulder to right (‘et Spiritus Sancti’). This is always done when entering a Church after dipping the fingers in Holy Water. Other aids to prayer include a rosary (almost always with a small crucifix attached to it), icon images, and reliquaries (containing remains of Saint’s bones or blood, or fragments of the True Cross). The Pater Noster (the Lord’s Prayer) and the Nicene Creed are also commonly said. Confession of sins is a compulsory sacrament and essential before taking Communion or being given Last Rites. The seal of the Confession is supposed to be sacrosanct. Wealthier people will often attend the same Confessor for much of their lives and higher nobles will often even travel with a personal Chaplain who will fill this function, as well as act as an advisor and confidant.

Holy days: The weekly Holy Day is Krondag.

Services are:

The full roster of services will usually only be performed in Monasteries, Nunneries and in the larger Churches and Cathedrals. Vespers, Compline and Matins will be said by a devout person, even on the road.

Vespers: performed at sundown, this is the beginning of the liturgical day.

Compline: performed after the evening meal prior to bedtime.

Midnight Office: Usually observed only in monasteries.

Matins: First service of the morning. Usually starts before sunrise.

Divine Liturgy: This is the celebration of the Eucharist. Although it is usually celebrated between the Sixth and Ninth Hours, it is not considered to be part of the daily cycle of services, as it occurs outside the normal time of the world. It is not celebrated on weekdays during the preparatory season of Lent or during other fasts.

The Hours: First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth – Sung either at their appropriate times (usually only done by monks or priests with lots of free time), or in aggregate at other customary times. If the latter, The First Hour is sung immediately following Orthros, the Third and Sixth prior to the Divine Liturgy, and the Ninth prior to Vespers.

Festivals: this list may contain some ‘unauthorised’ veneration of Blesseds and of local patrons. It may also be added to over time.

A new section has been added to the webpage. This is an explanation of the religions to be found on Vhast. As they are seen, even if they have the same focus, they are often significantly different to the way are they are seen today on Terra. Even written words see a drift over time as they are copied and re-copied.

Thanks to IFWG there is a second edition of my first book (which means that it is back in print again). I am excited by the changes that have been made. These are all stylistic and there is no change to the actual story line. I think that it is far better written and a stronger tale now.

This month (June 2017) saw me at the National SF Convention in Melbourne where I was very happy to see some readers and chat about what is happening in Vhast. Feel free to ask me questions either through here or via the Cary J Lenehan Facebook page.

More stories, recipes, tarot cards etc are coming out through Patreon each month and the stories (at least) have now been completed out to the end of December 2018.

All is on track for Book 3 (Clearing the Web) to come out at the end of 2017.

Thank you for your continued interest in the books and remember that they are available through the Tasmanian State Library as well as by purchase,

Following on from Book 1, Intimations of the Evil, we follow the Cat, the priest, the princess, the ghazi, the tribesman and others, as they leave civilisation and enter the wilds and discover the hidden village of Mousehole, where lurks bandits and indescribable evil.

Engaging Evil is the second book of a series that sees worlds reshaped and myths confounded in a far-flung fantasy adventure.

Some people have asked about how time works on Vhast. Some have asked about the ages of characters and others about the week.

On the planet Vhast, the year is made up of twelve months. In the Latin of Freehold the order of these is; Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quartus, Quinque, Sextus, September, October, November, December, Undecim, Duodecimus. Other cultures may use different names, but will generally use the same system. Any culture which does not use this system will have it noted in the section that describes them.

Each month is divided into six weeks and each week has six days. Most cultures that you will encounter use these names (or slight variants on them). The days, in order are: Firstday, Deutera, Pali, Tetarti, Dithlau and Krondag. Each day has twenty four hours, which, in turn, each have sixty minutes. While this evenness of year is unnatural, there is a reason for it. This will become apparent as the story unfolds. There are 432 days in a year (ie 18% longer). A character who has just turned 12 year old on Vhast will thus be a bit over 14 years old in Terran years and one who has just turned 16 years will thus be nearly 19 in Terran terms.

Due to the rotation of the years through the four elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth and the twelve Animals, a Cycle of years is forty-eight. Going through a Cycle is an important birthday (for those who know their birth date and a double Cycle is even more so.

Khitan: This is a rider of the Eagle clan on a typical plains horse. He is probably a shaman who has hand-raised the eagle that he has with him. He will use this eagle both for hunting and as a spirit guide in the ‘other’ or real world. If he can commune with it he would also use it to see through its eyes and to communicate with other eagles.